Swimmers prepare for nationals at Kenyon

After competing at the University Athletic Association Championships last week, the Carnegie Mellon swimming and diving teams traveled to Kenyon College last weekend to compete at the Kenyon Swimming Invitational. At the Saturday afternoon meet, the Tartans faced Kenyon, Ohio Wesleyan University, DePauw University, Denison University, and Westminster College, among others.

In the men’s 200-yard freestyle relay, the Carnegie Mellon ‘A’ team, consisting of juniors Patrick Snyder and Michael Bailey, first-year Jeff Dahlen, and senior Dave Krzeminski, took first place with a time of 1:24.33. The ‘B’ team, consisting of sophomore Ryan Hofler, first-years Giacomo Tinari, Tony LoPresti, and Ryan Coyle, came in fourth (1:34.15).

Snyder added a first-place finish in the 50-yard freestyle (21.58), while Hofler took second in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:18.29). LoPresti added a third-place finish in the 200-yard backstroke, clocking in at 2:06.53.

Dahlen took fourth place in the men’s 100-yard backstroke (54.45), while Coyle took fourth in the 100-yard freestyle (50.26) and first-year Gates Winkler placed fourth in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:51.64.

LoPresti, Hofler, and Tinari teamed up with first-year Jonas Altman-Kurosaki to place second in the 400-yard medley relay (3:51.97).

In the 200-yard medley relay, the Tartans’ ‘A’ team took first with a time of 1:34.46, while the ‘B’ team placed fourth (1:46.06). The ‘A’ team consisted of sophomores Ryan Piper, Brad Henderson, Krzeminski, and Snyder. The ‘B’ team consisted of LoPresti, Hofler, Altman-Kurosaki, and Winkler.

The Carnegie Mellon ‘B’ team of Hofler, Winkler, Tinari, and Coyle also took fourth in the men’s 400-yard freestyle relay.

First-year Andrew Weitz placed second in the 400-yard IM with a time of 4:08.40. Junior Andy Douglass took second in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:45.63 to round out the men’s scoring.

For the women, junior Anna Kochalko won the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 2:09.00. Her time was a personal record, a Carnegie Mellon record, and good enough for the NCAA 'B' cut. Fellow junior Lauren Connell took third in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 53.67.

“The Kenyon meet wasn’t as much of a team meet as it was for individuals who wanted to lower or make their NCAA cuts,” Connell said. “All of the boys who had this as their championship meet swam amazingly. It’s really tough to squeeze a three-day meet into one long six-hour session, and they handled it really well.”

The Tartans will head to nationals, which will be held at the University of Houston, in early March. The women will compete Thursday, March 8, through Saturday, March 10, while the men will race Thursday, March 15, through Saturday, March 17.